Interactive hatching egg

ABSTRACT

An interactive hatching egg provides a learning experience for children. The egg is formed of upper and lower sections joined along a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the egg. The lower section carries a power supply, a controller having an input coupled to a touch sensor and outputs coupled to a motive drive, an illumination source and a sound generator. The controller is programmed to initiate a cycle upon detecting when the egg is touched, with the cycle including sound and light patterns. The cycle concludes with the motive drive actuating a latch which releases a hatch lid contoured in the upper shell to expose a baby animal. Upon detecting the egg being touched during a cycle, the controller alters the sound and/or light patterns.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates generally to toys which provide learningexperiences and more particularly to a toy which simulates the hatchingof an egg.

[0003] 2. Antecedents of the Invention

[0004] Hatching egg toys have been proposed heretofore as, for example,in U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,895 issued to CHO and U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,915issued to LIAW. U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,895 disclosed an egg shell withsections joined together by a liquid soluble medium such that when theegg was immersed in liquid, the shell sections separated and a toyfigure was revealed. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,915 also disclosed aliquid activated hatching egg wherein water, which entered the egg,caused a compressed foam animal carried within the egg to expand,breaking through weakened fault lines of the egg.

[0005] These toys merely provided amusement; significantly lacking was ameaningful learning experience.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] An interactive hatching egg is formed of a shell comprising apair of shell sections which are joined along a plane extendingtransversely through the egg.

[0007] Depending from the upper shell section into the lower shellsection is a generally planar circular chassis with a peripheral sidewall. A bracket extending downwardly from the bottom of the chassiscarries a power supply and a keyway for receiving an axial retentionpost. Mounted to the chassis and within an enclosure defined by thechassis side wall and a cover plate, is a circuit board having acontroller, e.g. a microprocessor. Illumination devices, a soundgenerator and a motive drive, which is coupled to a drive train forengaging a spring latch, are also carried within the enclosure. Thespring latch releases a hatch lid formed in the upper shell section forsimulating a hatching egg experience and exposing a baby animal which ispositioned in the upper shell section, seated upon the chassis cover.

[0008] A pair of contact surfaces are provided on the lower shellsection in communication with the controller for sensing when the egg istouched. The controller is programmed to initiate a hatching cycle uponsensing that the egg has been touched, with the hatching cycle being ofa predetermined duration and terminating with the hatch lid beingreleased. During the cycle, the illumination devices and a soundgenerator are actuated in one or more patterns with the patterns varyingin response to the egg being touched.

[0009] From the foregoing compendium, it should be appreciated that itis an aspect of the present invention to provide an interactive hatchingegg of the general character described which is not subject to thedisadvantages of the antecedents of the invention aforementioned.

[0010] A feature of the present invention is to provide an interactivehatching egg of the general character described which instills inchildren caring instincts.

[0011] Another aspect of the present invention is to provide aninteractive hatching egg of the general character described which iswell-suited for preschool age children.

[0012] A consideration of the present invention is to provide aninteractive hatching egg of the general character described which issimple to use.

[0013] Another consideration of the present invention is to provide aninteractive hatching egg of the general character described whichfosters nurturing instincts.

[0014] A further feature of the present invention is to provide aninteractive hatching egg of the general character described which iswell-suited for unsupervised child play.

[0015] Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide aninteractive hatching egg of the general character described whichpromotes development of tactile and auditory senses in children.

[0016] A further consideration of the present invention is to provide aninteractive hatching egg of the general character described whichfosters association of tactile and visual senses in children.

[0017] A still further consideration of the present invention is toprovide an interactive hatching egg of the general character describedcapable of maintaining a child's attention.

[0018] To provide an interactive hatching egg of the general characterdescribed which is suitable for economical low cost mass productionfabrication is a still further consideration of the present invention.

[0019] Another feature of the present invention is to provide aninteractive hatching egg of the general character described withinternal components being inaccessible to young children.

[0020] A still further feature of the present invention is to provide aninteractive hatching egg of the general character described which isresponsive to being touched by a child.

[0021] An additional feature of the present invention is to provide aninteractive hatching egg of the general character described which isdurable and well-suited for preschool as well as school age playenvironments.

[0022] Yet another consideration of the present invention is to providean interactive hatching egg of the general character described which iswell suited for usage by people of all ages.

[0023] Other aspects, features and considerations in part will beobvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

[0024] With these ends in view, the invention finds embodiment in thevarious combinations of elements, arrangements of parts and series ofsteps by which the said aspects, features and considerations areattained, all with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the scopeof which will be more particularly pointed out and indicated in theappended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the variouspossible exemplary embodiments of the invention,

[0026]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an interactive hatching eggconstructed in accordance with and embodying the invention and showingan upper and a lower section with the upper section having a hatch lidwhich is operable to expose a baby animal and with the lower sectionincluding a pair of sensors for detecting when the egg has been touched;

[0027]FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the interactive hatching egg andshowing the hatch lid in its open position and a chassis, which fitswithin the lower section;

[0028]FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the chassis and showing a bracket forcarrying a power supply, a keyway for receiving an axial retention postand a depression formed on the top face of the chassis for receiving amotive drive;

[0029]FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the chassis, with portions deletedfor clarity and showing a circuit board mounted to the chassis with acontroller on the board;

[0030]FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the chassis, with portions deletedfor clarity and illustrating a gear train driven by the motive drive forreleasing a spring latch; and

[0031]FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of the controller operatingsystem showing input and output devices.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0032] Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10denotes generally an interactive hatching egg constructed in accordancewith and embodying the invention, the egg includes an upper shellsection 12 and a lower shell section 14 joined along a plane which istransverse to a longitudinal axis 16 of the egg. The shell sections 12,14 are preferably molded of a suitable thermoplastic and in accordancewith the invention, at least a portion of the upper section 12 issomewhat translucent.

[0033] Carried within the lower section 14 is a circular, generallyplanar chassis having a peripheral side wall 20. A cover plate 22 ispositioned over the upper edge of the side wall 20 to provide anenclosure.

[0034] Extending from the bottom of the chassis 18, as illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 3, is a power supply bracket 24 which carries, for example,a pair of batteries 26. Projecting downwardly from the bracket 24 is atransverse web 28 having a central keyway opening 30 for receiving aretention post 32 which extends upwardly from an axial aperture at thebottom of the lower section 14. The post 32 is engaged in the keyway 30to retain the chassis within the lower section 14 and fix the uppersection 12 to the lower section 14.

[0035] Mounted on the chassis 18 is a controller 34 carried on a circuitboard 36. In accordance with the invention, the controller 34 isoperatively connected to one or more touch sensors 38 having engagementservices contoured to mate with the lower section 14. The touch sensorsare received within sockets 40 formed in the lower section and whichextend in a generally axial direction. The upper portion of each sensor38 is received in a cylindrical sleeve 42 and a radial branch 44 of eachsensor 38 engages a cutout notch 46 of each sleeve 42, to lock thesensors 38 in position. The sensors 38 are formed of or coated with aconductive material and the upper end of each sensor 38 extends to andis registered with a chassis aperture 48. A contact plate 50 extendsfrom the board 36 to each of the sensors 38, with contact beingcompleted through the apertures 48.

[0036] A sensor circuit 52, mounted to the board 36, is coupled toplates 50 and generates a signal upon detecting contact between child'shands and the touch sensors 38. Any of a number of known sensor circuitsmay be employed including capacitive, current flow, etc. Additionally,the touch sensors may comprise one or more pressure sensitive switches.

[0037] Also coupled to the controller 34 are a plurality of outputdevices including an illumination device or devices 54, which maycomprise a light emitting diode or diodes, an electroilluminescent wireor panel or any other known illumination output device. It should benoted that apertures 56 for the illumination devices 54 are provided inthe cover plate 22, such that illumination will be viewable through thetranslucent portion of the upper section 12.

[0038] Also coupled to the controller 34 is a sound generator outputdevice 58 which may comprise, for example, a piezoelectric devicemounted to the underside of the cover plate 22 and coupled to thecontroller 34 by suitable electrical leads (not shown). A further outputdevice coupled to the controller 34 is a motive drive 60, illustrated inan exemplary manner as an electric motor. It should be appreciated thatany various electromechanical drives may be utilized, such as, a linearmotor or solenoid. The electric motor is carried in a depression 61 ofthe chassis 18.

[0039] Referring now to FIG. 5, a typical drive train 62 is illustratedfor instances wherein the motive drive 60 comprises an electric motor.The drive train 62 includes a worm gear 64 coupled to a motor shaft,with the worm gear 64 driving a spur gear 66. A pinion 68,concentrically mounted to the spur gear 66, drives a further spur gear70. A post 72, extending axially from the spur gear 70, engages a cam 74on a latch plate 76. The latch plate 76 is pivotally mounted to an axialpost 78, extending from the chassis 18.

[0040] Engagement between the post 72 and the cam 74 causes the latchplate 76 to rotate in a counter clockwise direction about the post 78,against the bias of an integral leaf spring 80, causing a latch 82 tomove inward in a substantially radial direction.

[0041] The latch 82 thus disengages from a mating latch 84 which isfixed to a translucent hatch lid 86 formed in the upper section 12. Whenthe latches 82, 84 are disengaged, the hatch lid 86 swings from itsclosed position, shown in FIG. 1, to its open position, shown in FIG. 2,about a spring biased hinge 88 to expose a toy baby animal 90, seated onthe cover plate 22.

[0042] In manufacture of the interactive hatching egg 10 in accordancewith the invention, after the chassis components have been assembled,the lid is positioned such that the apertures 56 are registered with theillumination devices 54 and the latch 82 projects through a rectangularopening 92. With the components thus registered, a pair of screws 94 areextended through registered openings in the chassis 18 and the cover 22;the screws 94 are anchored in sockets 96, formed in the upper section12. The chassis is thus fixed to the upper section 12 and extendsdownwardly therefrom.

[0043] Thereafter, the upper and lower sections are registered such thatthe touch sensors 38 are registered with the chassis openings 48. Theupper and lower sections are then urged together and locked in positionby rotation of the retention post 32 in the keyway 30.

[0044] Pursuant to the invention, the controller 34 is programmed toinitiate a hatching cycle upon receiving a first signal from the sensorcircuit 52, indicating that the egg 10 has been touched by a child. Thehatching cycle may extend for any predetermined duration, e.g. from onehour or less to twenty four or forty eight hours.

[0045] At the end of the hatching cycle, the motive drive 60 is actuatedto disengage the latches 82,84 such that the hatch lid 86 swings open,exposing the toy baby animal 90 which then may be removed from the egg.

[0046] During the hatching cycle, the controller program actuates theillumination devices 54 in various patterns and also actuates the soundgenerator 58 to produce various sounds. The actuation of theillumination devices 54 and sound generator 58 may be continuous orintermittent. The types of sounds and duration thereof is predeterminedpursuant to the controller program.

[0047] Upon receiving a signal from the sensor circuit 52 that the egghas been touched during a hatching cycle, which would occur if a childhandled the egg in a nurturing or caring manner, the controller 36 isprogrammed to vary the intensity and/or pattern of its actuation of theillumination devices and/or sound generator so that the child receives aresponsive feedback.

[0048] The controller 34 may also be programmed to vary the hatchingcycle, e.g. shorten the cycle duration in response to a signal orsignals indicating that the egg has been touched during a cycle.

[0049] An alternate program for a hatching cycle is for the controllerto actuate the illumination devices and/or sound generator only if theegg is touched during a hatching cycle or to provide intermittentactuation, e.g. at commencement and/or end of the cycle if the egg isnot touched as well as actuation when touched.

[0050] Thus it will be seen that there is provided an interactivehatching egg which achieves the various aspects, features andconsiderations of the present invention and which is well suited to meetthe conditions of practical usage.

[0051] It should be understood that the invention should not beconstrued as limited in utility. For example, the invention will findusage in adult markets, as for example, as a novelty device, interactivedesk ornament or gift dispenser.

[0052] Since various possible embodiments might be made of the presentinvention and since various changes might be made in the exemplaryembodiments shown herein without departing from the spirit of theinvention, it should be understood that all matter herein described orshown in the accompanying drawings should be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, there is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent:
 1. An interactive hatching egg, the eggcomprising a shell, the shell carrying user accessible contents, aportion of the shell comprising a hatch lid, the hatch lid beingoperable to reveal the user accessible contents, a controller positionedwithin the shell, the controller being operatively connected to thehatch lid, the controller being programmed to open the hatch lid uponconclusion of a hatching cycle, the controller being programmed torespond to the egg being touched during the hatching cycle.
 2. Aninteractive hatching egg constructed in accordance with claim 1 whereinthe controller is programmed to initiate the hatching cycle in responseto the egg being touched.
 3. An interactive hatching egg constructed inaccordance with claim 1 wherein the user accessible contents comprises ababy animal.
 4. An interactive hatching egg constructed in accordancewith claim 1 further including a sound generator positioned within theshell, the sound generator being operatively connected to thecontroller, the controller being programmed to actuate the soundgenerator during the hatching cycle.
 5. An interactive hatching eggconstructed in accordance with claim 4 , the controller being programmedto vary the actuation of the sound generator in response to the eggbeing touched during the hatching cycle.
 6. An interactive hatching eggconstructed in accordance with claim 1 further including an illuminationdevice positioned within the shell, the illumination device beingoperatively connected to the controller, the controller being programmedto actuate the illumination device during the hatching cycle.
 7. Aninteractive hatching egg constructed in accordance with claim 6 , thecontroller being programmed to vary the actuation of the illuminationdevice in response to the egg being touched during the hatching cycle.8. An interactive hatching egg constructed in accordance with claim 6 ,wherein the hatch lid is translucent, whereby illumination from withinthe shell can be observed.
 9. An interactive hatching egg constructed inaccordance with claim 1 further including a motive drive positionedwithin the shell, the motive drive being mechanically coupled to thehatch lid, the motor drive being operatively connected to thecontroller, the controller actuating the motive drive to open the hatchlid.
 10. An interactive hatching egg constructed in accordance withclaim 9 further including a chassis positioned within the shell, thechassis being user inaccessible, the controller and the motive drivebeing secured to the chassis.
 11. An interactive hatching eggconstructed in accordance with claim 10 , wherein the shell comprises anupper shell section and a lower shell section, the hatch lid beingformed in the upper shell section, the chassis being positioned withinthe lower shell section.
 12. A method of providing an interactiveexperience in simulation of the hatching of an egg employing a shellhaving a hatch lid and a controller within the shell, the methodcomprising the steps of: a) programming the controller with a hatchingcycle, b) positioning a simulated animal within the shell and behind thehatch lid, c) actuating the hatching cycle, d) employing the controllerto generate sound patterns from within the shell during the hatchingcycle, and e) employing the controller to open the hatch lid to exposethe simulated animal upon conclusion of the hatching cycle.
 13. A methodof providing an interactive experience in simulation of the hatching ofan egg with a shell having a hatch lid in accordance with claim 12further including the steps of: f) constructing at least a portion ofthe shell of translucent material; and g) employing the controller togenerate light patterns from within the shell during the hatching cycle.14. A method of providing an interactive experience in simulation of thehatching of an egg with a shell having a hatch lid in accordance withclaim 12 further including the steps of: f) employing the controller tovary the sound patterns if the shell is touched prior to completion ofthe hatching cycle.
 15. A method of providing an interactive experiencein simulation of the hatching of an egg with a shell having a hatch lidin accordance with claim 14 further including the steps of: g)constructing at least a portion of the shell of translucent material; h)employing the controller to generate light patterns from within theshell during the hatching cycle, and i) employing the controller to varythe light patterns if the shell is touched prior to completion of thehatching cycle.
 16. A hatching egg comprising an egg shell formed of atleast two sections, one of the sections including a hatch lid, useraccessible contents being positioned within the one section, the othersection including a motive drive connected to the hatch lid for openingthe hatch lid to access the user accessible contents, the motive drivebeing user unaccessible.
 17. A hatching egg constructed in accordancewith claim 16 further including a chassis, the chassis being userinaccessible and positioned within the other section, a latch mounted tothe chassis, the latch being in engagement with the hatch lid when thehatch lid is closed, the motive drive being actuated to disengage thelatch from the hatch lid whereby the user accessible contents willbecome available.
 18. A hatching egg constructed in accordance withclaim 16 wherein the user accessible contents comprises a baby animal.19. A hatching egg constructed in accordance with claim 17 wherein thechassis includes a peripheral wall and a lid forming a chassisenclosure, the motive drive being positioned within the chassisenclosure.
 20. A hatching egg constructed in accordance with claim 19wherein the lid is positioned between the one section and the othersection, the one section being positioned above the other section, theuser accessible contents being positioned on top of the lid.